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Sunday, October 07, 2012

Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

What a week this has been! As I sit here on my desk I can barely manage
to keep my eyes open and my shoulders from drooping with fatigue.I won’t go into the gritty details here,
because really, who wants to hear about that?Work has just been a wringer with curve balls left and right – throw in
intense technological dramas with the hard drive and you have quite the
birthday week.That’s not even to
mention the strange weather!

It is during times like these that I (and I think we all
do) need to turn to something comforting in the kitchen.Something warm and soupy and hearty and
familiar.This doesn't take much, after
all, when in the throes of what seems to be a purgatorial punishment I am in no
shape to go all Master Chef in the kitchen.I take what I have and make the most of it.Which is exactly what we should do with and
in all crummy situations life throws us.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

500 grams prepared corned beef brisket

2 small red onions, peeled and halved

1 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 8 wedges

1 carrot, peeled and cubed

1 potato, peeled and cubed

1 bay leaf

A good cracking of black pepper

- Place the corned brisket, onion, carrot, potato, and bay leaf
in a heavy bottomed pot.Cover with
liquid – you can use stock or water, I used the liquid that came with my corned
brisket.Cracked some fresh black pepper
over, cover the pot, and place over medium low heat to cook.Check occasionally to make sure nothing is
catching on the bottom of the pot.

- When the carrots and potatoes are halfway done, add the
cabbage.Cover the pot once more and
cook until all the vegetables are done.

- Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.Mine needed no extra seasoning as the flavours
of the corned beef and cooking liquid were already intensely aromatic.

- Fish the slab of corned beef out onto a chopping board
and slice thickly.Lay the slices on
serving bowls and cover with the soup and a portion of vegetables.Enjoy hot.

This soup was put together, thankfully, without much
trouble.Which is more than I can say
for my poor hard drive.I used a slab of
local corned beef brisket which I had in the freezer.Along with that, I scrounged up a carrot, and
potato, and a head of cabbage.No matter
how frazzled or anxious I am, the act of tucking in a few simple ingredients
into a pot with some liquid, then leaving it to slowly but surely, and magically,
turn into a fortifying soup, gives me a sense of calm that nothing can quite
duplicate.I know that may sound odd,
but it works for me, and is much cheaper than the spa, plus you have soup
afterwards.

The corned beef I used here is made by Mr. D’s Artisanal
using wagyu beef brisket, which is cured for one week then slow cooked for five
hours.The famous marbling that wagyu
beef is known for makes this a meltingly tender chunk of meat.With potatoes and mounds of cabbage, and a
generous dollop of horseradish on the side, this pure comforting
sustenance.Any leftovers make
awesome sandwiches.

Since my beef was was already pre-cooked it was just a
matter of getting the vegetables done and the beef heated through.If you are using fresh corned beef you just
have to adjust the cooking time above and slow cook until the beef is tender, this
could take 4-5 hours.Add the vegetables
during the final hour of cooking.

I am still in the midst of trying to resolve this
seemingly insurmountable technical hiccup.And although the task feels absolutely daunting I am determined to take
it one step at a time and hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel
soon.Wish me luck!

I don’t want to end this post on a sour gripey computer-related
note though. I am happy to share that
after hearing about my giveaway The Vanilla Company has decided to donate more
vanilla beans to be shared with you!
That means instead of one lucky winner, we will have two!! I am also giving you another week to
enter! So go ahead and leave a comment
on my vanilla bean éclairs post and get a chance to win some really lovely
vanilla beans!

What a delish, comforting soup meal and great idea. I haven't done this in a while, and now that it's gotten colder here, must try your recipe soon. Thanks for sharing & thanks for the blog-visit, Joey! It was nice to get together again :-) Take it easy!

What a delish, comforting soup meal and great idea. I haven't done this in a while, and now that it's gotten colder here, must try your recipe soon. Thanks for sharing & thanks for the blog-visit, Joey! It was nice to get together again :-) Take it easy!

Very cool blog! Your posts make me salivate! I wonder have you ever tried Turkish Breakfast? I am living in Istanbul and it is one of my favorite things about living here. Check out my post about it if you are interested. http://theistanbulletin.com/2012/10/10/eat-turkish-breakfast-and-sing-along-at-home/

Hi Rosa! Perfect for cold weather...not that we really have any of that over here!

Hi Midge! Hardly...between computer troubles and work, I am still trying to get my head above the backlog! I hope this coming weekend will be more restful!

Hi Simone! It was indeed quite a week...now I've fallen sick so it's just gotten more hectic...looking forward to more r&r this weekend, fingers crossed!

Hi V Shaw! This corned beef comes in its own broth so it is highly flavored actually :)

Hi Mieke! Corned beef sinigang is awesome! Over here most of the corned beef, as you know, is in ‘delata’ form…but this new purveyor is really making a fantastic old school corned beef...I am loving it!

Hi BettyAnn! It really makes a comforting dish! Always a pleasure to see you!! Come visit again soon!

Hi Jen! Rustic is my middle name! Heehee! ;)

Hi Katiez! Technical troubles are very high on my list of pet peeves :(